Dal Fry – Thanjavur Thalicha Paruppu

South Indian Restaurant style Moong Dal Fry. Recipe for Tamilnadu Thanjavur Thalicha Paruppu.Dal Fry, South Indian Moong Dal Fry, Thalicha Paruppu.

I had this Dal Fry at a restaurant in Thanjavur during our temple trip last week. The dal was so warm and comforting with rice after a long sunny day at the temple. Thanjavur is known for its vegetarian fare called ilai saapadu. Its the thaali feast served for lunch on a banana leaf. This recipe is inspired from the dal we ate in Thanjavur.

Thanjavur brihadeshwara temple is my most favorite temple. The temple just completed its 1000 years. There are so many other temples that are big and grand. But this one is the best as its made entirely of Granite. No soap stone, No lime stone – just 100% Granite. In an age of soft iron and no modern tools, the intricacy of the structure in granite is awe inspiring. Its truly the big temple.

Raja Raja Chola is my favorite hero. They say that this might be the only recorded painting of him with his guru Karuvurar. Karuvurar means a person with no rebirth. Hinduism believes in rebirth.

There were so many things that kept me looking curiously for hours. Some of them were the paintings. These paintings are 1000 years old. If you look at the paintings, you can see a hand bag, ladies in cut shoes, and Raja Rajas court wives (in transparent clothes) praying at Chidambaram. And all this was 1000 years ago.

There is an edifice which has a man with a hat at the Thanjavur temple. It might be a proof that the Cholas traded with the Europeans as they say that the hat resembles the dutch hat. Another theory is that this guy is a Chinese Buddhist monk as Buddhism was wide spread in India during that time. Whatever it was, a man with a hat at a temple – unique!

We saw so many sculptures with intricate work at the Lord Subrahmanya tower. We had so much fun. Soooo much fun! No school, no rules, no timings, no alarm clocks. Thats the nice thing about vacation.

Now back to the recipe. This is a very simple dal. The dal is tempered two times.

Cook the Dal: Boil half a cup of split moong dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles. Switch off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.

First Tempering: Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Then add in the chopped shallots (small onions) and the garlic. Pound the garlic with the skin 2-3 times and add it whole to the pan. It gives a nice aroma. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Now add in the finely chopped tomatoes, one cup of water and a teaspoon of salt. Let it cook for 5 minutes in medium flame until the tomatoes are nicely cooked and mashed up.

Now add the cooked dal and half a cup of water. If the consistency of the dal is too thick, add a little more water. The dal should not be too thick like mashed potato. We are looking at a pouring consistency. Let the dal come to a boil. Add in the coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

Now lets do the second tempering. Here are the tempering ingredients.

Heat two teaspoon of ghee in a small kadai and add in the cumin seeds, curry leaves and the dried red chillies. Let it splutter. Once the spluttering sound has subsided, switch off the flame and add in the turmeric powder, asafoetida (hing) and red chilli powder. Mix well to roast the powders. Add it to the dal and serve hot with rice.

For Cooking Dal

• 1/2 cup Split Moong Dal
• 2 Cups Water

First Tempering

• 2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 4 cloves garlic
• 10 shallots (small onions), sliced
• 1 Tomato, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 - 3 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped

For second Tempering

• 2 teaspoon Ghee
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 2 sprigs Curry leaves
• 2 dried Red chillies
• 1/8 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing)
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli powder

For Cooking Dal

1. Boil half a cup of split moong dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles. Switch off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.

First Tempering

1. Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Then add in the chopped shallots (small onions) and the garlic. Pound the garlic with the skin 2-3 times and add it whole to the pan. It gives a nice aroma. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Now add in the finely chopped tomatoes, one cup of water and a teaspoon of salt. Let it cook for 5 minutes in medium flame until the tomatoes are nicely cooked and mashed up.Now add the cooked dal and half a cup of water. If the consistency of the dal is too thick, add a little more water. The dal should not be too thick like mashed potato. We are looking at a pouring consistency. Let the dal come to a boil. Add in the coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

For second Tempering

1. Heat two teaspoon of ghee in a small kadai and add in the cumin seeds, curry leaves and the dried red chillies. Let it splutter. Once the spluttering sound has subsided, switch off the flame and add in the turmeric powder, asafoetida (hing) and red chilli powder. Mix well to roast the powders. Add it to the dal and serve hot with rice.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Category: Side Dishes, Lentils, Dal
• Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu

For Cooking Dal

• 1/2 cup Split Moong Dal
• 2 Cups Water

First Tempering

• 2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 4 cloves garlic
• 10 shallots (small onions), sliced
• 1 Tomato, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 - 3 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped

For second Tempering

• 2 teaspoon Ghee
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 2 sprigs Curry leaves
• 2 dried Red chillies
• 1/8 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing)
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli powder

For Cooking Dal

1. Boil half a cup of split moong dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles. Switch off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.

First Tempering

1. Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Then add in the chopped shallots (small onions) and the garlic. Pound the garlic with the skin 2-3 times and add it whole to the pan. It gives a nice aroma. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Now add in the finely chopped tomatoes, one cup of water and a teaspoon of salt. Let it cook for 5 minutes in medium flame until the tomatoes are nicely cooked and mashed up.Now add the cooked dal and half a cup of water. If the consistency of the dal is too thick, add a little more water. The dal should not be too thick like mashed potato. We are looking at a pouring consistency. Let the dal come to a boil. Add in the coriander leaves and switch off the flame.

For second Tempering

1. Heat two teaspoon of ghee in a small kadai and add in the cumin seeds, curry leaves and the dried red chillies. Let it splutter. Once the spluttering sound has subsided, switch off the flame and add in the turmeric powder, asafoetida (hing) and red chilli powder. Mix well to roast the powders. Add it to the dal and serve hot with rice.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Category: Side Dishes, Lentils, Dal
• Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/moong-dal-fry/

Chettinad Pachai milagai mandi recipe by Chef Karuppaiah of the heritage property – The Bangala. Its a spicy sauce simmered in a tamarind gravy.

The capital of Chettinad, Karaikudi sends you to another world with its amazing architectural legacy of palatial houses, food and the people. Chettinad is also famous for the labour intensive Handloom cotton sarees known as “kandaangi” with its “gopura-karai” – temple-tower motif. One of the other gems that can be found here is the Athangudi tiles, named after the place of the manufacture. Athangudi tiles are hand-made.

This recipe for milagai mandi comes from The Bangala in Karaikudi. I first saw Chef Karuppaiah in an amazing show sutralam suvaikalam run by Rakesh Raghunathan of Puliogare Travels. Mr. Karupaiah is the most cutest, wittiest and the true master chef ever. He has been the Chef at The Bangala for close to about 50 years.

Earlier known as “Senjai Bangala” , the property was established in 1910. It was a club for the chettiar men and the VIP visitors. It is said that the Governor of Madras, Sir Athur Hope, visited in the 1940’s. All the furniture, cutlery and crockery used from those times are still in use. In 1998, the Bangala was restored and converted into a heritage stay/resort. The place has all the old world charm.

The food at The Bangala is awesome. It does not get more authentic Chettinad than this.

The folks behind the Bangala have even published a cookbook called The Bangala Table and it is entirely on the food of Chettinad. Its authentic, elaborately written and a must have if you love chettinad food. The recipes are awesome with photographs. The Bangala Table: Flavors and Recipes from Chettinad Here is Milagai Mandi from Chef Karuppaiah of The Bangala. We need mandi for making this recipe. So what is Mandi? Mandi in tamil means sediment. In cooking, mandi refers to arisi mandi or rice mandi. Its nothing but the left over water from washing rice. When we cook rice for lunch, just soak the rice in water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes mix (rub) the rice and water well with your hands and drain. The starchy drained water is mandi. So what is the short cut for making mandi? If you are in a hurry, just mix 2 teaspoon of rice flour in 1.5 cups of water and mix well. Thats instant mandi for you. We will need about 1.5 cups of mandi for this recipe. Discard the rest or store in the refrigerator for future use.

Soak a big lime size tamarind in 2 cups of mandi for 20 minutes. Once the tamarind has been soaked, squeeze it between the fingers to release all the juices. Strain the juice and set aside.

We need de-skinned tomatoes for this recipe. Boil water in a kettle to a roaring boil. Make a cross on the tomato like the picture below (It makes it for easy peeling later) and drop the tomatoes in hot water. Let it cook for 3 minutes. Switch off the flame. Drain the water and peel the tomatoes. Blend the tomatoes in a mixie / blender to a coarse paste. Set aside.

We will need the main ingredients Garlic, Shallots (small onions) and GREEN CHILLIES!!!!!!!!!! Lots of green chillies! Get them ready.

Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds and the urad dal. Let it splutter. Then add in the garlic, shallots and green chillies and saute well until all the ingredients are roasted. About 3-4 minutes. The green chillies might splutter as they are added whole. So word of caution!

Add in the tomato paste. Fry till the tomatoes are cooked and almost dry. Add in the salt and the tamarind mandi water.

Cook on high flame for 10 minutes. The gravy will thicken up. At the end of 10 minutes, the gravy should be soupy. If its watery, mix two teaspoon of rice flour in 1/4 cup of water and add it to the gravy. Allow it to cook for couple of minutes until the gravy becomes thick.

Serve hot with rice. Chef Karuppaiah says that this dish is traditionally eaten in Chettinad with rice only.

For Tamarind Extract

• 1.5 cups Rice Mandi (see notes)
• 1 lime size tamarind

Other Prep Work

• 2 tomatoes de-skinned and ground to a paste

For Gravy

• 4 tablespoon sesame (gingely) oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon urad dal
• 20 cloves garlic
• 20 cloves shallots (small onions)
• 20 green chillies
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

For Thickening Gravy (Optional)

• 2 teaspoon rice flour
• 1/4 cup water

1. Soak a big lime size tamarind in 2 cups of mandi for 20 minutes. Once the tamarind has been soaked, squeeze it between the fingers to release all the juices. Strain the juice and set aside.
2. Boil water in a kettle to a roaring boil. Make a cross on the tomato and cook for 3 minutes. Switch off the flame. Drain the water and peel the tomatoes. Blend the tomatoes in a mixie / blender to a coarse paste. Set aside.
3. Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds and the urad dal. Let it splutter. Then add in the garlic, shallots and green chillies and saute well until all the ingredients are roasted. About 3-4 minutes.
4. Add in the tomato paste. Fry till the tomatoes are cooked and almost dry. Add in the salt and the tamarind mandi water.
5. Cook on high flame for 10 minutes. The gravy will thicken up. At the end of 10 minutes, the gravy should be soupy. If its watery, mix two teaspoon of rice flour in 1/4 cup of water and add it to the gravy. Allow it to cook for couple of minutes until the gravy becomes thick.
6. Serve hot with rice.

Notes

What is Mandi? Mandi in tamil means sediment. In cooking, mandi refers to arisi mandi or rice mandi. Its nothing but the left over water from washing rice. When we cook rice for lunch, just soak the rice in water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes mix (rub) the rice and water well with your hands and drain. The starchy drained water is mandi. So what is the short cut for making mandi? If you are in a hurry, just mix 2 teaspoon of rice flour in 1.5 cups of water and mix well. Thats instant mandi for you. We will need about 1.5 cups of mandi for this recipe. Discard the rest or store in the refrigerator for future use.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Category: Side Dish, Lunch
• Cuisine: Tamilnadu